62 DC VELOCITY JULY 2014 www.dcvelocity.com
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Mobile-Shifter Family
• Control Method: Innovative hand-held push button controls
• Magnetic Grab: Superior magnet design generates 1200# of draw bar pull. Full ( 5) year warranty
• Transfer Method: Hydraulically powered push/pull mechanism powered by compact power pack
with 1HP motor
• Power Requirements: 24 Volt DC from host truck (options available)
• Electrical Hook-Up: Y-Cable connects to host vehicle with SB-175 Gray Connectors
• Mounting System: Quick disconnect clamping system allows easy mounting or removal
• Load Bed: Poly-Slide inserts provide lower maintenance and safer transport than roller systems
• Load Capacity: Maximum 4,000# load capacity with proper walkie selection
Contact Multi-Shifter, Inc. Sales at
1-800-457-4472
For ALL your battery handling needs. Including
man-aboard vehicles, single level & multi-level up to 5 high
P.O. Box 38310 11110 Park Charlotte Blvd. Charlotte, North Carolina 28278 Toll Free: 800-457-4472 www.multi-shifter.com
tems from dock equipment manufacturer Rite-Hite.
Vehicle restraints lock to the rear impact guard of the
trailer, keeping the trailer secure to the dock. They’re
designed to deter thieves from moving the trailer away
from the dock in order to steal items inside the vehicle or
to gain entrance to the facility itself. Restraints work much
better than wheel chocks for stabilizing trailers, assuring
that the trailer will not creep away from the dock, which
can happen after repeated entries by lift trucks into the
trailer.
Restraints also protect the trailer from being driven off
accidently before loading or unloading is complete. Plus,
the restraint reduces the chance of trailers’ collapsing from
their wheels popping up.
Restraints can even be wired into security systems. If the
restraint is tampered with or not released properly, an alert
can be sent to the security system.
DOING THEIR LEVEL BEST
Once a vehicle is properly restrained, the next challenge
becomes protecting the trailer’s contents from theft and in
the case of temperature-sensitive products, contamination.
This is where a vertically stored dock leveler can be useful.
A dock leveler acts as a bridge between the dock and the
trailer bed. The alignment is rarely perfect when a truck
backs up to a loading dock—there is normally a gap of
a few inches between the two. Deploying a dock leveler,
which is typically a large plate, allows lift trucks, pallet
jacks, and people to pass smoothly from trailer to dock.
Dock levelers come in two types—horizontal storing
and vertical storing varieties. The first kind, the horizontal
storing leveler, is stored within a pit in the floor. However,
these models can present a safety and security risk. In
order for the levelers to be deployed, trailer doors must be
opened when the trailer is still at least 10 feet away from
the dock (this ensures there’s enough room for the doors to
swing open without hitting the leveler). However, opening
the doors outside might cause products to spill or shift,
and it could compromise the temperatures within both the
trailer and the dock. Another disadvantage is that deploy-
ment relies on the driver—who may be independent or
working for a third party—rather than facility personnel,
to open the trailer doors, creating an opportunity for theft
or tampering.
To eliminate these risks, Sartori chose the second type of
leveler—vertical storing hydraulic models, also from Rite-Hite—for use at the Plymouth facility. As the name implies,
vertical storing levelers store upright at the dock area
against the door opening. A principal advantage of vertical
levelers is that they allow trailers to back in completely to
